Chinese Restaurant Playground by Steffie Yee is an exhibition about childhood, imaginative play, and finding joy within the frenetic settings of her parents’ Chinese restaurant in Branxton, regional New South Wales – from rollerblading on the tiles and using pot lids as cymbals to making playdough from spring roll pastry batter.
Through a collection of finished works and works in progress (multilingual animations, videos, illustrations and photographs), Yee seeks to humanise the people behind the “local Chinese restaurant,” document their persevering yet challenging stories, and celebrate Australian Chinese cultural history.

Steffie Yee, Mum and Ebony Yee, from the ‘Chinese Restaurant Playground’ series, photograph. Courtesy the artist and Footscray Community Arts, Melbourne
Footscray Community Arts
12 June to 15 September 2024
Melbourne